Falling in Love with a Dragon
by S. T. Nickolian
Summary: Sasuke and Naruto are both back, but Sakura is being left behind, again. So Tsunade gives her a new sensei and the Sasuke gets jealous. Who is this guy, and he's a jinchuuriki to someone stornger than Kyuubi!
1. Chapter 1

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: If I owned this I'd be a goddess among humans, am I? NO.

* * *

Sakura sighed as she watched Sasuke and Naruto spar again. She was happy they were both back, she really was, but she couldn't help but she could help but feel left out. They had surpassed her despite the training she had done with Tsunade. Sasuke barely looked at her anymore and Naruto had Temari.

"Hey, can I sit here?" She started a little and looked up to see a guy standing beside her, ice blue eyes smiling. She nodded and he sat on the bench beside her. He wore a black cloak with gold and blue trim and had long black hair that ended in blue tips that matched his eye pulled back in to a pony tail. (AN: Think of Kenshin, people, just with different colors.) She couldn't see much passed his cloak, but she could see a bump in the cloth caused by the hilt of a katana.

"I haven't seen you in Konoha before; did you just move here?" She couldn't help but try to talk to him since there was nothing else for her to do and since she couldn't sense anything from him at all.

He smiled at her again and nodded. "Yeah, my parents were from here so I asked 'Baa-chan if she could instate me as a shinobi. I take the test-thing tomorrow."

Sakura couldn't help but smile at him. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow then; I'm Tsunade's assistant." The boy blinked then smiled.

"That'd be great! If you're her apprentice that means you're really strong, right?" Sakura blushed and looked to the side, not noticing that her teammates had paused in their sparring to look over at them.

"Not really…" She was cut off by the boy standing up.

"Nonsense! 'Baa-chan was bragging about you earlier come on; you can help me train!" He reached out a hand to help her up, still smiling. Sakura blushed but took his hand and smiled back. "By the way, I'm Ryuu."

"Sakura." She couldn't help but smile; he was a lot like Naruto, but had an air of mystery around him like Sasuke. She felt that they would get along well.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto watched Sakura leave with the guy they didn't know through narrowed eyes. Naruto may be with Temari, but he was still protective of 'Sakura-nee-chan' as he privately called her, and he knew that Sasuke cared a lot more then he let on.

The jinchuuriki glanced at his best friend a little warily. If Sasuke depended too much on Sakura's feelings for him to keep her beside him, then he was going to lose her. He wasn't blind; he could see that the kunoichi was drifting farther away from both of them, and while he tried to bring her back, Sasuke didn't do anything.

'_I hope you don't regret your actions when this is all over with, Teme.'_

* * *

Sakura fell onto her bed with a groan but there was a smile on her face. Training with Ryuu had been a _lot_ harder then she would have thought, but she didn't mind since he actually helped her more then she helped him. He gave her some tips on how to better condense her chakra in her attacks and how to better shield the amount of chakra in her attacks from her opponents.

Now that she thought about it, she had surprised him only once, causing him to let his guard on his chakra slip. The small portion she felt would have easily been high ANBU level. Later, she had asked why he hadn't taken out his sword yet. He had smiled fondly, rubbing the hilt of the katana and said one thing. "If I start using this, people will die."

The kunoichi shrugged and buried her head into her pillow. _'I can't wait to see him again; he makes me feel like I'm worth something again…'_ She fell asleep with a smile on her face, unaware of the ice blue eyes watching her before disappearing.

* * *

Tsunade took a drink of sake, taking advantage of the fact that Shizune was out of town. She looked to the couch where Jiraiya sat, writing away on his next perverted book. Then a strong chakra pulse from the window announced a visitor. The two Sannins turned their heads and smiled at the boy leaning casually against the wall. "Hey, Gaki."

Slitted ice blue eyes opened and Ryuu smiled, revealing two elongated fangs that had been covered by a genjustu earlier. "Yo, Ero-sensei, Obaa-chan." The boy walked over and took off his cloak, draping it over a chair and sitting down.

"So, what do you think of my student?" The Godaime smirked as she poured herself more sake.

Ryuu laughed slightly and looked out the window. "She's good, real good, but is being held back by what she thinks her teammates think of her: that she's not good enough." He looked to Tsunade and smirked. "That's where I come in; I don't mind training her, besides, Shinn-no-baka likes her."

The Sannin chuckled at the mention of the dragon sealed inside of the boy. Shinn was said to be more powerful than Kyuubi and had the ego for the part, only some of which had passed onto his jinchuuriki.

Tsunade smiled as the two males struck up a conversation, Jiraiya earning a few hits from Ryuu for perverted comments. She truly had missed the boy when he went training on his own, but that was where he found Jiraiya and made friends with him, learning about summoning and seals, so she wouldn't complain, but then he had disappeared on both of them, flitting about from one village to another. When he had casually marched into her office as if he hadn't been out of contact with her for nearly seven years, she had had to restrain herself from both strangling the boy and hugging him.

She had seen the steady decline that Sakura was going through and had asked Ryuu to help. A smirk crept onto her face. She had to send a note to Kakashi saying that Sakura wouldn't be coming to training with Team 7 for a while. The more time her student spent away from Team 7 and with the boy, the better.

* * *

AN: Okay, Ryuu is a character my brother and I made up, and the pairing is RyuuSakura and NarutoTemari, no ifs ands or buts.

I have the plot and everything figures out, but I need help with a scene for… Chapter 3, I think. It's a fight scene between Ryuu and Kisame. I know Kisame was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and everything, but Ryuu is also a master swordsmen, mostly with the katana, but he can use nearly every sword in existence. His affinities are Wind and Water, but he mostly uses Ice, if that helps anything. If you're interested, contact me via review or something and we'll work something out.

Please review and tell me and Hitokiri Ryuu what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: What would I do, IF I owned this? Well, let's see, I have a whole list! That should tell you that I don't own it! So don't go tryin' to sue me!

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke walked through Konoha, heading to the place where they would meet up with their sensei and Sakura. Naruto glanced at his friend, taking in the blank look on his face, nothing new there, but there was a thoughtful in his eyes, signaling that he was thinking about what had happened the day before.

Naruto sighed and looked away. To him it wasn't that hard. Either Sasuke tries to make up with Sakura and they live happily ever after, or he leaves her to be picked up by the new guy. _'Easy right?'_ Another glance at the Uchiha gave him the answer. _'Apparently not.'_

Naruto looked up as the bridge came into view. '_What's Kakashi doing here already?_' Their sensei was talking to an ANBU and looked like he had a scowl on his face, well, from what could be seen of it, anyway. Naruto nudged Sasuke and pointed. The Uchiha narrowed his eyes at the sight then narrowed them further as Kakashi sighed and appeared to consent to whatever the ANBU said. The cloaked figure vanished and the jounin turned to them with a sad eye, as they came onto the bridge. "What did that ANBU want?"

The scarecrow sighed again and stuffed his hands into his pockets, not bothering to get out his normal porn. "It seems Hokage-sama has found someone more… 'appropriate' to take care of Sakura, so she won't be joining us anymore."

Naruto looked crestfallen while Sasuke's eyes narrowed in jealous anger, already feeling like he knew the answer to the question he was about to ask. "Who would be more 'appropriate' then you, Kakashi? You used to be ANBU!"

"Well, yes, but this sensei was already trained by Tsunade and Jiraiya, apparently." The jounin sighed again. _'Now who is going to keep these two in line for me?'_ "He just applied to become an elite jounin this morning, and already rumors are flying through the village about him. 'Passed with higher marks than anyone has in the past two decades' is just one of them." At this Sasuke's fist clenched.

Naruto squinted his eyes, tilted his head, crossed his arms and looked at Kakashi in what the jounin recognized as the jinchuuriki's 'I'm confused, please explain' look. "Put simply, it means that this boy has done so well in the exam that he is going to be the target of much attention for a while."

Sasuke looked away as Kakashi explained to Naruto. _'It must be that new boy from yesterday…'_ His clenched fist tightened until his nails pierced his palm.

* * *

Sakura walked down the hall to her shishou's office, wondering what the Godaime could want. She was supposed to meet Kakashi and the others but the ANBU that had come to deliver the message had told her that it was already taken care of. She knocked on the door and waited for a reply. When she didn't get one she opened the door a little and peeked in. "Shishou?"

Tsunade looked up from her desk and smiled, waving her in but gestured for her to be quiet. At the younger kunoichi's questioning look, the Sannin smiled fondly and pointed across the room.

Sakura turned around and gasped slightly at the sight. Ryuu sat in a chair against the wall, asleep. His long hair fell down his back gracefully and his cloak was covering him like a blanket. "He fell asleep there this morning after he took his test." Sakura heard an affectionate tone in the Godaime's voice that she usually reserved for herself, Shizune, and Naruto.

"Oh yeah, he did take the test today, didn't he?" She turned around and saw Tsunade grinning. "How did he do?"

If possible, Tsunade put on a grin larger then Naruto's. "He is now an elite jounin, stronger then all of the others, and passed with the highest marks recorded in the past 20 years."

Sakura's jaw dropped in shock. "What?! I thought he would easily be in ANBU."

Hearing her student praise the boy caused the Sannin to chuckle. "He would have, heck, I would have made him Hokage the moment he stepped into my office if I could." Sakura's eyes widened and her jaw dropped even further.

Once she was able to overcome her shock she looked back at her new friend. "Okay, so why am I here?"

It was at that moment that Ryuu decided to wake up, having actually heard the whole conversation. He opened his mouth as wide as it could go in a yawn. Smacking his lips twice, he looked around the room through half-lidded, tired eyes. When he saw Sakura he gave her a very Naruto-like grin. "Yo."

Tsunade watched as Sakura smiled back at him and she saw the tiniest tinge of pink on her cheeks. "You're here, Sakura, because Ryuu wants to take you as his student." Both the Sannin and the jinchuuriki watched amusedly as she blinked and had a complete 'I'm sorry, _what_ did you say?' look on her face.

Ryuu stood up, stretched, and draped his cloak over his shoulders while he looked into the kunoichi's jade eyes. "You have potential, quite a bit more potential then I have seen from a lot of people." He saw the look of utter amazement on her face and smiled slightly. "Thanks to your perfect chakra control, you could learn nearly any jutsu thrown at you, and in some cases, they literally will be 'thrown at you', whether my me or an enemy, you have to be prepared for that."

"I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that it'll be easy or that I'll coddle you like others might because of your age or your gender." An ironic smirk made its way onto his face. "In fact, some of the strongest people I know, not including myself, of course, are female. Obaa-chan, Lyn-chan, etc, etc. You'll be on that list shortly."

Sakura couldn't help but stand there in shock at the words before throwing herself at him, laughing happily. Ryuu caught on instinct and let her hug him in shock; not many people dared to get this close to him. In fact, he could count on one hand how many people did: Tsunade, Jiraiya, Lyn, Arashi when he was still alive, and now Sakura. _**'Enjoy it while it lasts, Gaki; I know I am.'**_

The long haired boy resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Shinn's comment and instead wrapped his arms around Sakura, smiling softly as she continually thanked him. It wasn't often that he was freely given physical contact with another human without blood being spilled, and he was now realizing how much he had missed this feeling. Though… Sakura seemed to provide more comfort then he remembered receiving from a hug, except from his sister, Lyn. It made him relax more then he wanted to admit.

Tsunade smiled at the pair, happy to finally see that someone other then herself saw the potential lying within the young kunoichi. She knew she had made a good choice in allowing him to teach Sakura, and maybe come closer to her then just a sensei and student relationship. _'Gomen, Naruto, but I'm taking this out of your hands.'

* * *

_

AN: Well, there's chapter 2, and I still need a fight scene for Ryuu and Kisame, but it's in ch.5 now.

Thank you all for your kind reviews! We got more than I expected, and, again, it seems that there are girls out there that have fallen in love with Ryuu XD Hey, I would, if the guy who made him up wasn't my brother. Darn you Aniki! ;P Love you all, even Aniki, who is 'Hitokiri Ryuu' if you want to look him up.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave more of your loving reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: If I owned all this stuff, I would make Ryuu a real character and get him with Sakura for real.

* * *

"But O_baa-chan…_"

"No means no, Naruto." The Godaime massaged her temples in irritation at the young blonde. _Sometimes, I think he's worse than Ryuu was at that age._ A part of her scoffed at the thought, but she ignored it. "I'm not putting Sakura back on your team until her sensei says it's alright with him, and I'm not giving you harder missions until you're a three-man cell again." Tsunade didn't miss the hard look in Sasuke's eyes at the mention of her new sensei and resisted the urge to smirk.

Naruto pouted and crossed his arms, looking to the floor, but the Godaime could see the real hurt in his eyes and her own softened. "I'll talk to them later, okay?" He brightened up instantly and she smiled.

Kakashi looked relieved as well and Sasuke just continued to glare into space, though there was a spark of hope in his obsidian eyes. "I already asked him about that, Shishou."

Everyone jumped and turned to see Sakura crouched on the windowsill, smiling more happily than they had seen in months. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto dove at her and engulfed her in a hug, while Kakashi hung back, wondering why he couldn't sense her chakre. Sasuke strode forward a little, but didn't hug her like Naruto did.

Tsunade noticed the suspicious look in Kakashi's narrowed eye and smirked. "He taught you how to shield your chakre, ne, Sakura?"

The girl smiled even more brightly and nodded. "Hai, that along with some other things that I'm not allowed to tell you." She winked at Tsunade before sticking out her tongue a little. "He said something about getting in trouble and you beating his hide, or trying to anyway."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed before she threw her head back with a laugh. "He really hasn't changed at all." Once she had quieted, she looked back to her former student. "You said that you talked to him about something, Sakura?"

"Hai. You can give harder missions to Team 7 now, but he wants to come along." Tsunade smiled and nodded while Sakura turned to her team. "Well, who do you guys say to ramen. My treat since we haven't seen each other in a month."

Naruto grew starry-eyed and glomped her again. "Thankyou! Thankyou! _Thankyou!"_ Sakura just laughed and began walking out the door, with all the others following, Sasuke a little closer to her than he needed to be.

Tsunade watched them leave with a pensive look on her face. "Are you sure she's ready?"

Ryuu seemed to faze out of a shadow with a grin. "Don't worry about it. She improved at least tenfold in a month, and the only reason she seemed a little slow is because I upped her weights this morning." (Hitokiri Ryuu: Grin I'm a sadist.) The dragon jinchuuriki look after her with a fond smile that he reserved for only a few people… and his sword. "Besides, I promised to catch her whenever she fell, didn't I?"

The Godaime smiled faintly. "I was actually talking about Sasuke, but whatever; same rule applies." Ryuu grinned, showing off his fangs.

"I better get going; I still have to watch over her _and_ find a good time to talk to Kakashi. Mendokusai…" (troublesome…) Tsunade nodded as he faded away.

* * *

Kakashi had left his students at the ramen stand and was headed back to his apartment where he knew Anko would eventually show up. "Hatake Kakashi, right?" The jounin whirled around with a kunai in his hand to face a grinning boy who looked only a little older than his students. He cursed himself silently for letting the boy sneak up on him.

The boy laughed quietly. "Relax; I mean no harm, Sakura would never forgive me I killed her first teacher." Kakashi slowly lowered the kunai but remained tense. "I probably should have given this to you sooner, but oh well." The black and blue-haired boy held out a good-sized scroll to him, still grinning, though this one looked a little more forced. "Arashi told me to give this to you when I saw you again, but I've been busy with Akatsuki after my head and training Sakura and all –"

"Arashi?" Shock was clearly heard in the Copy Ninja's voice and his visible eye was wide.

Ryuu blinked then smiled. "Aa. I came to visit the night of the Kyuubi attack." His eyes darkened in sadness. "I would have helped, hell, I would have released Shinn to fight the kitsune-teme, but Arashi told me to take some scrolls to keep away form the council and leave." A glazed look overshadowed his ice blue eyes. "I never forgave myself for than when I learned that he had died, and I had to have Obaa-chan restrain me from coming and getting Naruto when I heard how he was treated." A dark chuckle flowed of hi m, smooth as silk, as he looked up at the moon. "Now I wish she hadn't."

Kakashi's hand sagged at his side, his kunai having fallen to the ground, forgotten. "But… how do you look so young? You would have to be as old as me, at least!"

Ryuu laughed, covering up his darkened mood from only a moment ago. "Yeah, that's a bit weird. I'm kind of a half demon since I've bonded so well with Shinn, a dragon youkai sealed inside of me." He lifted the genjutsu from over his eyes and watched as Kakashi's eye widened a little before he simply nodded.

"Anyway, he said to give this to you." He tossed the scroll to him before turning to walk away, but he stopped after only a few steps. "There's… one for Naruto as well, about the Hiraishin." Kakashi noticed the hesitancy in his voice but made no comment. "I was thinking about giving it to him now." He turned half-way so he could watch the Hatake. "You know him better than I do."

Kakashi smiled, realizing that this was the closest the boy would come to asking for help. "I think he's ready; after all he has been through, whatever Sensei wanted him to know he can handle."

Ryuu nodded absently, looking at the ground. "He's his son, you know." Kakashi blinked in confusion. "Naruto is Arashi's son…" Kakashi just stood still in shock. His student… is the son of his sensei, how he had considered a father. "And he wanted me to be there like a brother…" A self-hating smirk made its way across Ryuu's face. "I don't think I've done that so far…"

Kakashi smiled faintly. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Naruto will be happy to know someone else who knows what it is like to be a jinchuuriki." Ryuu grinned, again covering how he really felt and turned to walk away. "See you at the Hokage's office in the morning." Ryuu just lifted a hand in a lazy wave and seemed to fade away, leaving Kakashi to look at the scroll in his hand. _I'm glad you didn't forget about me, Sensei.

* * *

_

AN: There's Chapter Three, and I hope you all enjoyed it. Aniki was a little iffy on this chappy, but I'm posting it anyway. I STILL need help on the fight scene, and it's only two chapters away! So PLEASE! If you want to help, contact me. I REALLY need to the help.

Thanks for reading! Review Please! They make me update faster!


	4. Chapter 4

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: How many times do I have to say this? It's so annoying! I don't own anything, and Ryuu belongs to my brother, so if you want to use him, consult Aniki first!

* * *

Naruto yawned as he walked up to the Hokage's office for his mission, but there was a smile on his face because they were going to be with Sakura. A frown soon replaced the smiled as he thought about the condition that she was joining them on. Some new guy that was apparently really strong was teaching Sakura in Kakashi's place and was coming along with them.

"Naruto, right?" He jumped and looked up at a set of smiling eyes and a wide grin that could match his own. He nodded slightly and was surprised when the boy placed his hand on his head, ruffling his yellow hair in a brotherly way. "Sorry it took me so long to get back, but Akatsuki is dead set on having my head… except Itachi, but that's mostly because when we fight, it's more of a spar because he knows that I can beat him any day." The grin stayed in place and Naruto found himself drawn to him and to smile back, but… this was the new guy trying to steal to Sakura away from Sasuke!

"Who are you?" The boy blinked then smiled.

"Ryuu and I have something that I'm not really supposed to give you yet, but we can keep this between you and me." He pulled a scroll out from his cloak and handed it to the younger boy. "I was supposed to give this to you when you because chuunin, but Kakashi and I think that you're ready for it now…"

Naruto couldn't help but feel the sense of pride he got from hearing those words as he took the scroll. He looked down at it before looking up at the boy again. "What is it?"

Ryuu laughed. "It's from your father, about your bloodline limit, the Hiraishin… (AN: I don't know if it was a bloodline limit or not, but it is in here.)" Naruto's face held shock and confusion at the name, even as Ryuu's eyes darkened as they had the night before. "I'm sorry; I couldn't save him, but I know he believed in you, that's why he chose you to carry the Kyuubi."

"But, I though the Yondaime cho-" Realization shown in his eyes as he connected the dots. "My father… was the Yondaime?"

Ryuu smiled and nodded. "I wanted to come straight here after the attack, but AI had specific orders to keep that scroll away form the council."

Ryuu could see the beginning of a sense of betrayal drifting into Naruto's eyes and his smile softened. "Listen, your father was a great man who loved this village more than almost anything. The reason I say almost is because he loved you and your mother more, and he knew that sealing Kitsune-teme inside you would 1 – rid the village of a dangerous enemy, and 2 – provide you with an almost absolute defense so he knew you would be alright, which he was really worried about since he wouldn't be here to watch over you." The dragon put his hand on Naruto's head again, more comfortingly this time, even as his eyes took on a faraway look.

"I remember when we found out that you would be a boy… Do you know what he said?" He focused on the boy in front of him to find the blonde staring up at his questioningly. "He laughed, then said, 'I'll make you a bet, Tsunade-baa-chan, that he'll be the best Hokage this village will ever have,' and you and I both know about Baa-chan's bad luck." He looked down at the now teary-eyed Naruto and grinned just like Arashi, the man who taught him to do that and to actually enjoy life, had. "I want you to make sure your dad wins that bet, even if he's dead, and I'll do whatever I can to help, just ask."

Then, for the second time since he came to Konoha, Ryuu found himself being glomped by a fifteen year old. The kitsune jinchuuriki was grinning like there was no tomorrow and telling thank you after thank you at his new 'Aniki,' new guy trying to steal Sakura from Sasuke or not.

Tsunade was watching from the doorway to her office with a content smile on her face. _You really do work miracles, Ryuu._ "Alright, you two, the others are already inside." Naruto detached himself from the older boy and ran inside to show Kakashi his new scroll. When Ryuu made to follow him, Tsunade held him back and whispered into his ear. "Thank you."

Ryuu just grinned and walked inside to stand beside Sakura. He ignored the glare aimed at him from her dark-haired teammate and watched the Godaime. "Alright, Obaa-chan, what have you got for us?" She glared at him lightly for calling him that before looking down at her list of mission and smirking.

"Alright, here's one. You are to escort a bridge-builder from Konoha to Wave. Sound familiar?" Ryuu arched an eyebrow when Sakura giggled, Naruto grinned widely and Sasuke groaned. Looking to his student, he silently demanded an explanation.

"Escorting Tazuna from Konoha to Wave was our first _real_ mission. That's where we met Zabuza and Haku." Sakura said a faraway look came to her eyes as she seemed to look past him. Ryuu nodded and turned to Tsunade, waiting to meet this Tazuna person.

When Shizune brought an older, balding man in, he was immediately drawn into a match of insults with Naruto, so Ryuu knew that this must be Tazuna. He smirked at Naruto's behavior as Sakura went to greet the bridge-builder and Sasuke followed her. "He acts a lot like him, doesn't he?"

Ryuu turned to see Kakashi watching Naruto as well and grinned. "Aa. He does." They watched him for a moment more then Ryuu started toward them.

"Oh, Tazuna, this is Ryuu-sensei; Sensei, this is Tazuna." Sakura smiled as her sensei grinned and shook the builder's hand. Naruto grinned as well then began asking Ryuu how to get the scroll open, to which the elder jinchuuriki just laughed while walking out the door shortly followed by the others.

* * *

AN: Well, there we go. PLEASE! If someone can help me with the fight scene described in the author's not of chapter one, contact me. I really need the help. T.T Thank you for reading and I really hope you all review again! 


	5. Chapter 5

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: Sigh I don't own Naruto, and Aniki owns Ryuu, happy now?

* * *

As they walked down the road, Ryuu would ask Sakura theory battle questions to help teach her strategies, with Naruto and Kakashi jumping in every now and then, but they mostly stayed huddled over their scrolls. Sasuke tended to stay in the back with Tazuna and glare at Ryuu.

Suddenly, Ryuu stopped, staring at a mist that seemed to come from no where and whirled around them. "Kirigakure no jutsu." The others immediately moved into a defensive position around Tazuna, leaving Ryuu to stand in the mist, gently rubbing the hilt of his katana. "Come on out, Kisame." A smirk creeped across his lips when a blue-skinned figure with a massive sword appeared through the mist. "Tell me, is Itachi around?"

Kisame just narrowed his eyes and shifted his sword nervously. Ryuu just shrugged, still smirked and placed his thumb on the hilt of the sword, pushing it up lightly, releasing the blade. "Hitokiri Uchiha Ryuu, I have been ordered to rid you of the dragon, Shinnryuu."

The others were shocked at hearing his full title, even Sakura hadn't known, but Sasuke quickly began to seethe. There was another Uchiha, and he didn't come when Itachi murdered everyone.

Sakura noticed the tenseness in Ryuu's back and let concern enter her voice. "Sensei?" He seemed to relax, but his voice was a dangerous growl.

"I have told you before, Sonofafish, to never call me that. I gave up that title when Shinn was sealed inside of me, altering my Sharingan into something different. I am _not_ an Uchiha! Hitokiri, however…" The group could hear the confident smirk that was no doubt on his face. "_That_ title is still in place."

Kisame bristled at the 'sonofafish' comment and charged. Ryuu smirked and merely dodged Kisame's attack. Every time Kisame attacked Ryuu would just sidestep or duck, depending on the swing, making Kisame, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, seem like a rookie. Kisame finally had enough and decided to attack the others instead to try and catch Ryuu off guard. Ryuu, noticing Kisame's new target, appeared above Kisame swinging his katana down. Kisame barely had enough time to bring Samehada up to block the downswing of Ryuu's katana. The smaller blade skimmed across the zanza as the boy flipped over it, kicking the missing-nin at his temple. The force of the kicked caused Kisame to fall back a step, and before he could recover his balance, Ryuu had finished his jump over the shark and kicked his legs out from under him.

Kisame fell in a heap and Ryuu stepped on the arm holding Samehada while placing his katana at his throat. (AN: I'm _really_ sorry that I can't write fight scenes, and that the fight was probably shorter than it should have been, but Ryuu is supposed to be _really_ strong so I had to make it seem easy, and none of you guys would help me! Again, gomen.)

"You really never get better, do you?" Ryuu sounded pleasant, but Kisame could see that his doujutsu was close to the surface, probably from irritation which could quickly turn to anger. "Can I kill him now, Itachi, _please_?"

The mist cleared slightly to reveal another Akatsuki member, this one with tan skin, black hair and red eyes. Uchiha Itachi raised one eyebrow and looked at the still awake Kisame. Ryuu took the hint and knocked the shark upside the head with the hilt of his sword, effectively rendering him unconscious. "Unfortunately, you may not. I do not wish to have to get to know someone else well enough to fight well with them."

Ryuu sighed and reluctantly stood, kicking the shard again for good measure. He sheathed his sword and turned to the elder Uchiha with a smile. "So… how fares the rest of Akatsuki?"

"Most of us have been faring well, though Deidara has nearly killed Tobi for being annoying." It was a polite reply, but there was humor in Itachi's eyes as if he was talking with an old friend. "The Leader, however, seems to be very troubled as of late."

Ryuu blinked for a moment then said, "When is he not?" Itachi chuckled and seemed to shake his head slightly.

Sasuke anger continued to rise as the two bantered. If he was an Uchiha, why wasn't he trying to avenge their clan? _I am __not__ and Uchiha. _Why would you give up the name of one of the most prominent and powerful clans in all the shinobi villages?

"Tell me, Ryuu, how is Lyn? Well, I hope." Itachi sounded curious, but Sakura could see the sudden tenseness in Ryuu's muscles and voice.

"I honestly don't know; well, no doubt." A small smile came to his face. "And if she isn't…" He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. Somewhere in the forest, an explosion destroyed nearly a square mile and the sound waves reached the Konoha and missing-nin. Somehow, they all knew that Ryuu was the one to cause it. The smile on his face took on a more feral look. "If she isn't… There is going to be _**Hell**_ to pay."

Itachi nodded and walked over to Kisame. "We will take our leave then."

Ryuu just let his hand fall to hi side with a good-natured smile. "You do that." With a poof of smoke, the two Akatsuki disappeared and Ryuu turned around to face the shocked group. "Coast is clear; let's go."

Sakura was the first to move and went to stand by her sensei while the others shook off their shock. Naruto was next and he soon had a wide grin on his face and was begging 'Ryuu-nii-san' to teach him. Kakashi shook himself a little then strode forward lazily to congratulate him. Tazuna stood in shock, but Sasuke just stood still. _He beat and S-class missing-nin in two to three moves, and even Itachi seemed afraid of him after that blast._ His teeth ground together in anger. _Not to mention that he's been around Sakura a lot._ An image of Ryuu going straight to Sakura in the Hokage's office and her smiled flashed through his mind. _Who __is__ this guy?_ His nails pierced his palm as his fists clenched, drawing blood.

* * *

Naruto was bragging about new brother to Inari when they reached Tazuna's house and agreed to stay a night there before returning to Konoha. Tsunami was cooking a large dinner in celebration for their visit, and Inari was quickly gaining a new role model. Ryuu felt a little out of place and discreetly left eh house. It didn't take long, however, for Sakura to realize that he was missing.

The kunoichi left the others quietly and looked around. "Sensei?" She spotted him a little further down the dock with one leg propped up as an arm rest and the other hanging over the edge. Not making a sound, though he knew she was there anyway, she came up beside him and sat down. "Sensei, who is Lyn? You've mentioned her a couple times."

Ryuu glanced at her then back to the sunset with a small smile. "Jazlyn, or Lyn, is one of the strongest people I know, and probably one of the prettiest, I wouldn't know, I never looked at her like that. Jiraiya, however…" Sakura laughed at the teasing note in his voice. Ryuu let her laugh for a moment before he continued. "Lyn isn't exactly a shinobi, but her lightning and air abilities have no equal… besides me."

Sakura laughed again, more whole-heartedly this time. Ryuu smiled at her before looking down at the water in front of him. "Lyn is my sister."

Sakura quieted at his reverent tone of voice. "She had a mutation in her Sharingan and was shunned by nearly all Uchiha for it, when they should have respected her. Itachi was one of the better ones because he was merely indifferent to her, rather than beating her. I was in Konoha at the time and picked her up." The smile on his face took on a gentler tint, telling his student how much this girl meant to him. "She gave up the Uchiha name, just as I did, and I adopted her as a sister. We weren't Uchiha anymore, so Itachi didn't come after us at the massacre."

Sakura listened intently, a little confused about why she felt so relieved. "Souka… You make a pretty good brother, ne?" He blinked then they both laughed. Sakura stood up once they had quieted. "I think Tsunami is finished now; let's go back inside."

Ryuu smiled and reached for her hand. Once he had it, he smirked and rolled off the dock, pulling Sakura into the water with him. The splash brought the others running out of the house to see Sakura come up from the water sputtering. "Sensei!" All they heard was the sound of his laughter. And when they went back inside, half the food was gone.

* * *

AN: Well, there's Chapter 5. I hope Aniki and I didn't do too bad on the fight scene. I hope you all liked it and please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: Aniki and I don't own Naruto, but we do own Ryuu, so back off all you fan girls! And I know you're out there, I've gotten a few reviews from you…

* * *

"_Nii-san?" Ice blue eyes looked down into blood red ones. "Did Itachi-sama really kill the clan?"_

_Ryuu didn't know how he was supposed to act about that around his sister, so he turned away. "Aa."_

* * *

_Ryuu stood in shock at the sight of the bloody child's body in front of him. Inside him, Shinn was dead silent. A cough came from the body, waking him from his stupor and he ran to the body. Gently, he tried to lift it up and prop it against him, not caring about the blood that began soaking his clothes. Slitted but fully-developed Mangekyou Sharingan eyes opened painfully and looked up at him. "N-Nii… san…"_

_Ryuu throat closed tightly and he couldn't speak. He just gently pushed her hair away from her face._

_Lyn winced and reached up to touch his face. Ryuu made a move to stop her, but when her bloodied fingers traced his cheek, he couldn't stop his eyes from filling with tears. Lyn smiled up at him faintly. "N-Nii… san…" Her voice was fading quickly and she struggled to say her last words._ "Love you, Nii-san."

_Her hand seemed to fall away and hit the ground in slow motion. The dim light in her eyes faded completely. _

* * *

Ryuu shot up from the futon panting. He placed a shaky had to his sweaty forehead. "Kuso… I haven't had that nightmare in years, not since I was afraid that Itachi would come after Lyn… Why am I having it now?"

"Sensei?" He started slightly before looking down at a bleary-eyed Sakura looking up at him from her futon. "Is something wrong?" she asked through a yawn.

Ryuu smiled down at her, hoping that she would see past his façade. "Betsuni. (Nothing.) Go back to sleep; we have to get back to Konoha tomorrow."

Mumbling something, the kunoichi obeyed and her breathing evened out immediately. Ryuu sighed and looked out the window at the faintly brightening sky. An image of him and Lyn crossed his eyes. He scowled and rubbed his eyes. "I shouldn't have left her behind when I came back…" He failed to notice the blood red sun; blood had been shed that night.

* * *

"I still don't see why you had to eat all the food; I'm _still_ hungry." Naruto emphasized his statement with a growl from his stomach.

Ryuu narrowed his eyes slightly. "So was I and I apologized for it already! Now let's hurry up and get back to Konoha."

"Sensei, why is it so important that we get back to Konoha so soon?" Ryuu had taken the lead shortly after they left Wave and set a harsh pace that even Kakashi would have a little trouble keeping up with after a while.

Ryuu looked back at her quickly before leaping to another tree. "Just a feeling that something is wrong, and my instincts are rarely ever wrong; I'm just anxious."

The others just nodded and hurried on after him.

The guards at the gate stopped them for only a moment. Their eyes widened at the sight of the blue-eyed jounin, causing him to narrow his eyes before they waved them in, telling them to go straight to the Godaime's office. Ryuu again set off at a quick pace, the feeling in his gut increasing.

The five burst into Tsunade's office to see her begin holding her head in despair. Jiraiya was standing beside her, holding her arm in a weak show of comfort. Shizune saw them first and upon her gaze landing on Ryuu, her eyes widened in shock and pure terror. Ryuu's eyes narrowed further and he released the genjutsu over his features and stared them down. "Mission accomplished with only one interference from Akatsuki after Shinn, now what the _Hell_ is going on?"

Tsunade lifted her head and looked up at him in sympathy. Moving away from Jiraiya, she took Ryuu's hand. The elder jinchuuriki blinked in confusion but that was quickly replaced by the dark feeling of foreboding that increased exponentially as she led him down the hall. The others looked at each other questioningly but followed Sakura as she ran after them, with Jiraiya and Shizune at the end.

Tsunade led them to the lowest floor of the tower to a sealed door. She unsealed the door but hesitated in opening it. "Ryuu, please don't blow up." Before he could ask what she was talking about, she pulled the door open and stepped aside.

Ryuu stood in shock at the sight of the bloody young woman's body in front of him. Inside him, Shinn was dead silent. "No… this can't be…" A cough came from the body, waking him from his stupor and he ran to the body. Gently, he tried to lift it up and prop it against him, not caring about the blood that began soaking his clothes. Slitted but fully-developed Mangekyou Sharingan eyes opened painfully and looked up at him.

"N-Nii… san…"

Sakura placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp. "Shishou, is that…?" Tsunade wasn't fighting the silent tears that were running down her face as she nodded. Sakura looked back to her sensei in horror, remembering how fondly he had spoken of her the night before.

Ryuu throat closed tightly and he couldn't speak. He just gently pushed her hair away from her face.

Lyn winced and reached up to touch his face. Ryuu made a move to stop her, but when her bloodied fingers traced his cheek, he couldn't stop his eyes from filling with tears. Lyn smiled up at him faintly. "N-Nii… san…" Her voice was fading quickly and she struggled to say her last words. "Love you, Nii-san."

Her hand seemed to fall away and hit the ground in slow motion. The dim light in her eyes faded completely. "This… isn't a nightmare…" His world shattered.

Shinn roared in fury.

* * *

AN: WAH! I hated writing this chapter! sniff Mostly because Lyn was the character I made up, and I have a sort of bond with all of them, so it hurts to make her die... Alright, don't listen to my rambling. For those of you that were wanting fluff between Ryuu and Sakura, I'm sorry, but that's going to take a while. They need to pass all sorts of obstacles and stuff before they can finally settle a little. Thank you all for reading, and please leave us a review, even if it's to yell at me about how you hate me for killing Lyn or something.


	7. Chapter 7

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: The only thing in this that Aniki or I own is the plot and Ryuu, nothing else.

* * *

Everyone in Konoha heard the cry of the demon and froze in terror. Tsunade quickly shut the door and sealed it then stepped aside for Jiraiya to make a few more seals over hers. Their precautions, however, did not stop the enormous amount of frigid chakre and killing intent from washing through the door and over them.

Sasuke and Kakashi stood frozen while Naruto shivered, but otherwise, he just looked to Sakura who was openly crying. "What is going on? Who was that girl and why did Ryuu-nii-san get so angry?"

The kunoichi's shoulders shook as she silently cried. Taking a deep breathe, she turned to her friend and teammate with sad eyes. "I asked him last night about the girl that Itachi had mentioned, Lyn. That was her."

The eyes of those who didn't already know widened as they remembered Ryuu's statement – no, his promise to the missing-nin. _"If she isn't… There is going to be _Hell_ to pay."_

Jiraiya began talking while still staring at the door. "Jazlyn used to be an Uchiha, just like Ryuu, but there was a mutation in her Sharingan that gave her a fully-developed Mangekyou at birth." Sasuke snapped his head to the frog Sannin with wide eyes. "She wielded the Tsukiyomi more efficiently than had ever been imagined, and she was shunned and, in many cases, beaten for that." Sasuke looked like he was about to argue, but Kakashi gave him a look that clearly told him to shut up. "Ryuu saved her by taking her away from that and she gave up the Uchiha name and became his adoptive sister."

Naruto looked to the ground then to the door. "Ryuu-nii-san…"

Tsunade sat down against the wall and stared at the floor. "Ryuu and I ran into each other once after the massacre, and I noticed that he looked tired. He told me that he was having nightmares about Lyn dying." A choked sob caught in her throat, stopping her from speaking for a moment. "This is exactly what happened in those nightmares, down to the last detail except now she's older."

Another roar was heard, though now it seemed more of a mournful cry rather than a blood-curdling howl like the first one. Kakashi looked sadly at the door, while Sasuke just stared at the floor angrily. Two Uchiha… One now, but there had been two that Itachi didn't go after because they didn't bear the Uchiha name, because they denied what it stood for. He clenched his fists tightly. Why hadn't they come to him when they heard about the massacre?

Tsunade stood up, brushing off the dirt from her clothes and gazing at the door. "Come on; let's give him some time to grieve. After all," she smiled sympathetically and turned to them with only a few tears now rimming her eyes. "She was the only one from his home clan to ever accept him for himself after the Shinnryuu incident."

They left the hall, leaving Sakura to stand by the door alone. The kunoichi sat down by the wall and let all the shield on her chakre fall so he would be able to sense her and know that she was there. She felt a presence off to her right and snapped her head up.

"Itachi." Her voice was quiet and held no malice. The elder Uchiha nodded to her then turned to the door and back to her, his eyes clearly asking a question. Sakura sighed and brought her knees to her chest and placed her chin on them. "Tsunade-shishou and Jiraiya-san had to seal Sensei in there so he wouldn't destroy the whole village in rage."

"What happened?" A kind of dread filled his voice as if he already knew what had happened but didn't want to believe it.

"Lyn is dead." She heard her new companion rather than saw him scowl and punch the wall. Sighing, he sat down beside her and, in a rare show of frustration, rubbed his eyes. "Why do you care?"

Itachi looked to the side, avoiding her gaze. "To everyone else, I was indifferent to Lyn, but to her, I was the one person that never struck her, and in some cases, kept her from being hurt. When I heard that Ryuu had taken her away, I was relieved that she no longer had to put up with all of that." A small smirk crossed his face. "After the massacre, I met up with Ryuu and Lyn quite often and we began to share a bond. At first, Ryuu had thought that I would try to kill Lyn, and threatened me with more than just bodily harm should I ever even intend to. I would have pursued a relationship with her, but…"

Sakura smile slightly and finished for him. "Ryuu would have killed you without a second thought." The two shared a laugh, both knowing that that was no doubt true.

When they had quieted, Sakura smirked a little. "How ironic that I'm sitting peacefully next to an S-class missing-nin and the man my crush wants to kill, and actually enjoying his company." She shook her head in amazement while Itachi merely chuckled.

Several hours passed and the ice cold chakra that had been leaking out of the room faded to near nothingness. Sakura had fallen asleep against Itachi's shoulder in a show of trust, and, in turn, he had kept them from being seen whenever someone came down to check on Ryuu.

Midnight came and Sakura woke up. Looking at the door from Itachi's shoulder, she whispered. "Can we let him out now?" Itachi nodded and help her stand.

Together, the two were able to undo the seals across the door and pick the lock. Itachi slowly pulled the door open and Sakura had to hold in tears again. Ryuu was just sitting in the middle of the room, staring ahead with a blank face and Lyn's body was off to his right.

Sakura walked in, figuring that he already knew that they were there. His clothes were soaked with his sister's blood from when he had clung to her, praying that he would wake up and it would all be a nightmare once again. As she got closer to him, she could see that his slitted blue eyes were dull. Dead. "Sensei…"

Before Itachi could try to stop her, Sakura had sat down behind her sensei and wrapped her arms around him. The dragon jinchuuriki blinked slowly, as if it just registered that she was there. Then, he lifted one hand and held her arms in place around his waist since he needed some measure of comfort. Itachi came in and sat with his back to the, so they were all leaning on each other slightly and so he could watch the door.

Ryuu broke the silence with a faint whisper. "Let's go bury her… I'm not going to let them place her in the Uchiha's burial ground. Not after what they've done to her..."

* * *

AN: Wah! It's still sad, but don't worry, it won't stay that way for long… I hope. XD Anyway, things will get better for them. Thank you all for reading, and please leave us a review! 


	8. Chapter 8

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: We, no own this stuff, kk?

* * *

Ryuu broke the silence. "Let's go bury her, I'm not going to let them place her in the Uchiha's burial ground… not after what they did to her." Sakura nodded into his shoulder as Itachi stood up and carefully picked up Lyn's body.

Sakura and Ryuu stood after a moment, but he kept an arm around her waist as if to reassure himself that she was still there. At Ryuu's nod, the three of them teleported away and were outside Konoha's walls, in the forest. Ryuu took Sakura's hand and began leading the way through the dense trees to a clearing that she had never seen before.

Sakura gazed around them in awe. The clearing was filled with blood red flowers of all kinds, and there was a small pool off to the side. Vines crept up the trees and into the leaves, making the tree line a wall of green. Ryuu smiled slightly at her amazed expression. "This was Lyn's favorite place in the area, so it's only fitting that we bury her here."

His companions nodded and they set to work.

* * *

An hour later, there was a fresh grave underneath a willow tree by the pool with a flower arrangement on top of it.

Ryuu was leaning against a tree across the clearing from the grave with Sakura's head in his lap. He was watching the stars while idly playing with the kunoichi's pink hair. Itachi was sitting silently in the branches above them.

Sakura's eyelids grew heavy and she asked in a tired voice. "What do we do know?"

Ryuu smirked and smoothed her hair out. "We go kill the guy that murdered her. She reeked of Orochimaru."

Sakura looked up at him, now fully awake. "I'm coming with you." The determined tone in her voice was one he had heard in Lyn several times, and when he looked down at her, he briefly saw an image of his sister overlap hers, but he quickly shook it away and smiled.

"I said 'we' didn't I?

Itachi smirked and jumped down beside them as they stood up. Ryuu smirked as well, understanding that the Uchiha would be coming with them and looked to Sakura. Itachi rolled his eyes and turned his head away, causing Sakura to become wary. "What are you thinking, Sensei?" She yelped when he swept her into his arms and jumped into the trees. "Sensei!"

He just smiled and tightened his grip on her. Sakura sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. Somehow, she knew that he was just hiding the pain that he felt and that he needed comfort. She wrapped her arms around his neck trustingly and felt Itachi off to their right. "So… we're going to take on an entire shinobi village by ourselves, ne?"

Ryuu smiled at her. "Of course, why not? Do you think we'll need anyone else?" He seemed curious, but there was a bored quality to his voice, as though he didn't really care, which he probably didn't. He was going to kill Orochimaru anyway.

"No." Ryuu looked down at her, sensing the 'but' in her tone. Sakura bowed her head a little to shield her eyes with her bangs. "I just hope that I'm strong enough."

Ryuu tightened his hold on her and looked ahead again. "Sakura, I wouldn't have brought you along if I didn't think you were capable of this."

Sakura's fists clenched around his cloak as silent tears fell. "Arigatou… Ryuu."

* * *

"Orochimaru-sama!" The snake Sannin looked up form the experiment that he and Kabuto were working on as the guard burst into the room. "Orochimaru-sama! Kabuto-sama! We're being invaded!" He was panting, showing that he had just run from where the attack first started.

Orochimaru narrowed his serpentine eyes then looked back down at the baby in front of him. "Hold off the army and send the first unit to the front lines."

"D-Demo, Orochimaru-sama…" The guard looked down at the floor in shame. "There are only three of them, and the first unit has already been wiped out, along with units two through ten."

"Nani?!" Seeing the nin nod, Orochimaru picked up the child and began going further into his fortress for protection. "Kabuto, hold them off."

The deranged medic nodded and walked out with the guard. He quickly gathered a group of formidable shinobi and waited at the entrance to the fortress. "No matter what happens, we cannot allow them to get inside."

He had barely finished speaking when a blur shot over their heads. "I'm counting on you two."

Kabuto turned to follow, but a kunai whizzed past his face, grazing his cheek in the process. He faced away from the fortress to see Uchiha Itachi, murderer of his clan, and Haruno Sakura, Godaime Hokage's apprentice, standing in front of him. "Well…" He tried to put on a confident smirk. "This isn't the pair I expected to grace our humble village."

Itachi took one glance at him before turning to face the trembling guards. Sakura gazed at Kabuto emotionlessly before raising her leg and bringing it down in a powerful kick. Kabuto jumped away as the ground beneath him crumbled.

Once he landed, he had to dodge the bone shattering punches thrown at him by the kunoichi. After a few moments, he dodged another punch and made a chakre scalpel to sever her tendons, but before he could bring the weapon down on her arm, she landed a spine severing kick to his chest. He shot back and hit a wall and sending him through it, knocking him unconscious so he couldn't heal himself.

Sakura looked up to see Itachi standing by a pile of corpses. Arching an eyebrow, she looked over the pile with a smirk. "Bit overkill, don't you think?"

The Uchiha just smirked as they started into the fortress. "Not at all." Sakura laughed and it echoed through the maze of hallways.

* * *

Ryuu stood in front of a door, growling. He had followed Orochimaru's scent here, but there was another scent with him. It reminded him of Lyn's, but that was impossible; her remains had been buried just earlier that night.

Snarling a bit, Ryuu punched the door and watched it fall to the floor with a heavy crash. He stalked in, not caring if this was a trap; he would just destroy the traps and move on. "Orochimaru!"

He heard a dark chuckle come from the darkness and his lip curled back in a silent growl. "That was quite the greeting, Ryuu-san." A pair of glowing eyes appeared, followed shortly by the rest of the hebi-teme. "Don't you want to say hello to your sister?"

Ryuu snarled, sounding quite similar to his dragon counterpart. "I'm here to kill you for what you did to her!" He placed a hand on the hilt of his katana and released it slightly from the sheath.

The Sannin just chuckled in a way that made Ryuu's skin crawl then shifted the bundle in his arms. "Ryuu, I would like you to meet Uchiha Kylira, clone of Uchiha Jazlyn."

The infant opened her eyes and blinked at him curiously. Ryuu stared in shock into the innocent eyes he had watched the light fade from not a day before. Without warning, the dragon jinchuuriki began to laugh. It started as a dark chuckle then turned to a full-blown laugh, confusing the Konoha traitor.

He abruptly stopped and bowed his head a little, shaking it. "Looks like I'm going to have to kill you without harming her then." Ryuu slowly lifted his head, opening his now glowing eyes. Tomoe appeared in the sea of blue, two on either side of the narrow slit that was his pupil. "Tsukiyomi."

* * *

Orochimaru immediately found himself in a world of pale blue with a black crescent moon hanging above him in the sky. He whirled around, trying to find Ryuu.

"You'll find that this is a little different than the standard Tsukiyomi that Lyn and Itachi used. This is far more deadly." Ryuu's voice seemed to come out of no where.

Orochimaru cried out when a sword pierced his side.

"You see, everything that happens to you in here, happens to your body in the real world. So now, you're real body is bleeding from a 'mysterious' sword wound in your side." A slight laugh was heard. "Well, I guess I'll turn you over to Shinn; he'll take _good_ care of you, after all he's been _dying_ to meet you. Good-bye… for the last time... Give my regards to Sarutobi…"

Orochimaru's eyes widened in terror as two huge eyes appeared above a grin full of fangs. He screamed, but was drowned out by a deafening roar. The last thing Orochimaru saw was the black shadow of a ten-winged dragon against the blue sky.

* * *

Ryuu opened his eyes to see the infant crying in a pool of blood; Orochimaru's body was no where in sight… or everywhere, depending on your point of view. He smiled softly and walked over to the baby girl. Picking her up, he held her in the way that Naruto's mother had shown right after Naruto was born. "Hey, Ky. It's okay now… the teme is gone."

Kylira quieted and began playing with his hair. Ryuu's heart clenched painfully at the sight of her Mangekyou Sharingan looking innocently up at him. _Lyn…_ A tear slipped through his eye lids as he hugged the child close to him.

* * *

AN: See? I told you everything would get better. Please leave me with your thoughts in a lovely review! They make us smile, and me update quicker! Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: We don't own anything except the plot and Ryuu.

* * *

"Do you have _any_ _idea_ of how _serious_ this is?!" Tsunade's face was flushed with fury, but there was a tiny twinkle of pride in her hazel eyes. Laughter was heard throughout the council room and the Godaime slammed her hands onto the table, scaring the entire council. "Damn it, Ryuu! This is _not_ a laughing matter!" 

The dragon jinchuuriki just grinned cheekily. "Alright, alright, I get it…" She seemed to calm down at this, and the other council members relaxed as well. "Next time I decide to exact revenge on another hidden village for harming what is mine, I just have to tell you first before leaving."

Jiraiya, who had been hiding in a corner laughed loudly, causing Tsunade to glare at him. "_You_ aren't helping at all, _pervert!"_ The said pervert just continued to howl with laughter, until he got hit over the head with a paper weight. The Godaime sighed and sat back down, placing her thumb and forefinger to the bridge of her nose in frustration. The council was murmuring among themselves, wondering how one boy could destroy an entire village _and_ kill its kage. "You were the only one who went?"

Another grin formed on Ryuu's face. "Who do you think I am? I'm not the kind of person to leave my student behind and Akatsuki sent a representative; you know how they hated Orochimaru for his betrayal to the organization." Ryuu yawned from his place in front of the council. "I would have brought back Hebi-teme's head, but… heh, it was kind of smashed, my uh… scaly friend wasn't too happy with him."

Everyone's eyes grew wide, whether they were in the room, or listening through the door, which Kakashi and Naruto were. Sasuke was standing a little farther back and Sakura had said that she needed to stay at her apartment for some reason.

"So, what is my punishment?"

Tsunade sighed. "Seeing as you accomplished your task, and took care of an S-class missing-nin, you'll have a period of three months probation, but your training with Sakura will continue. One more thing…" Her gaze turned to everyone in the room. "Orochimaru's demise is to remain a secret."

The council began to file out, not even bothering to ask why most of Team 7 was there. Ryuu stayed behind and motioned for Jiraiya and Tsunade to stay as well. "There's one other thing that I left out of my report…"

* * *

Sakura sat in her apartment with a sleeping Ky on her lap. She herself was about to fall asleep when she heard two voices chorus, "NANI!?" She smiled and looked down at the blinking baby in her lap. 

"Looks like Sensei told them about you, huh?" Ky blinked at her, yawned and fell back to sleep.

* * *

"I _said…_ 'I found Lyn's clone and I want to adopt her,' is that so hard to understand… or do I have to tell you a _third_ time?" Ryuu was fighting the urge to both smirk and scowl, so he didn't do either. "I mean, c'mon, this is Orochimaru we're talking about; it shouldn't be that hard to believe that he would do something like this, though… I didn't think he would either…" Ryuu turned his head slightly and muttered to himself, "_Damn snake…"_

Tsunade sighed. "Yeah, good point, but… are you going to be able to take care of a child?"

Ryuu smiled. "That's where you and Sakura come in; you're going to help! You should know I'm not _that_ good at taking care of kids…" Jiraiya laughed at the look of shock on the Godaime's face and began to lead her to the door.

"Well, let's go meet your daughter, Gaki."

"Oi! Keep your filthy hands off her, _pervert!_"

* * *

Tsunade blinked while Jiraiya backed away slightly, trying not to grin. Ryuu, on the other hand, wasn't doing anything to hide his laughter and Sakura was doing the same as Jiraiya. Kylira was in Tsunade's arms smiling innocently. She kept on repeating one thing, "Ba-baa!" while trying to grab Tsunade's hair. 

"Looks like someone else thinks that you're old, Obaa-chan." Tsunade just smiled a little and let Ky play with her fingers, the hair turned out to be too painful.

The Godaime felt a sense of peace settle around her as she held the one she could consider a grandchild. "I don't think I mind this time."

Ryuu smiled fondly at the two of them then sat down beside Sakura, who had sat when she saw that Tsunade wasn't going to blow up. He sighed tiredly and closed his eyes to try to catch a quick nap._ Note-to-self: Don't stay up all night after destroying a village unless absolutely necessary; it makes this one too sleepy._ Just as he was about to fall asleep, he felt Sakura let her head fall onto his shoulder. He looked down at her sleeping form in surprise. _Oh yeah, that's right… she stayed up with me and Ky last night… to make sure that Ky would be alright._

Ryuu yawned and let his head fall softly against hers. _Well… I don't see why we both can't get some shut eye._ Tsunade and Jiraiya smiled knowingly at each other as they watched the two of them sleep. As they turned away, they could have sworn that they heard the contented thrum of a dragon.

* * *

AN: Yes, I know… it's a filler, but I wanted to get a little more fluff in there (you guys asked for it.) Sorry it's so short, the next one will be longer, I promise. Thank you all for reading and please review! 

One more thing. Kylira is the CLONE of Jazlyn, so they have the same DNA, but because Ky will grow up in a different, (not to mention better) environment, they won't be the same. Just wanted to clear that up.

This is Aniki's response to the following review from 'Unborn'

_Since there are only nine tailed-beasts in the Naruto-verse, which is why there are only nine Akatsuki members, and Kyuubi is the strongest of these nine, where does your Gary-Stu character fit in. Just a little curious, for one I have never heard the mention of dragons, aside from the water-style jutsu's Kakashi, Zabuza and Kisame use._

All of your reviewers gush to much to leave proper reviewers. Is Ryuu stronger then Naruto, or is it just a perception that he's stronger. I'm not a big fan of fan made characters being stronger then the title characters it takes away from the universe they are in.

**Hitokiri Ryuu**: To the reviewer who goes by Unborn. To answer your questions, yes Ryuu is stronger then Naruto because Ryuu is a half demon from fusing with Shinnryuu. I'm sorry if you don't like OC's being stronger then the main character but the story works fine how it is. The writer creates the universe that the characters are in so the writer can decide how all the characters fit in the world the writer created.


	10. Chapter 10

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but Aniki does own Ryuu.

* * *

"Sakura!" Ryuu pounded on her door. "Sakura, open up! We have training!" He sighed and poured chakra into the keyhole to unlock the door. "If you're indecent, be warned."

All the lights were turned off, leaving him confused and wary. "Sakura?" He snapped his head toward her bedroom, where he heard a sod. "Sakura?" He opened her bedroom door and saw that all of her curtains were drawn, letting only a crack of light shine onto her bed. "Sakura!" He rushed to the bed, where she was curled up with tears trailing down her face. "What's wrong? What happened?"

The dragon jinchuuriki looked her over, searching for anything that could have hurt her. Teary green eyes looked up at him before she threw her arms around him. Ryuu sat in shock for a moment before trying to comfort her by rubbing small circles on her back. "It's okay, Sakura; it's okay…"

"No… no, it isn't… Sasuke… how could he?" Ryuu began to growl but paused when she continued. "He shouldn't… use her like that…" He looked down at her in confusion but she just continued to cry.

* * *

"She's on _our_ team, so it's not right that she's spending so much time with _him._" Sasuke was leaning against the wall of the Yamanaka's flower shop while Ino sat on the counter. He had been coming here to rant, mostly about Sakura and her new sensei.

Ino looked at him sympathetically, but she wouldn't side with him this time. Sakura had come to her and told her about how great the new shinobi was, and had even brought Ky to see her. "He _is_ her teacher now, Sasuke-kun; there's nothing you can do about that." She would comfort him, but she wouldn't agree with him.

Before Ino could say anything else, Sasuke moved away from the wall, grabbed her arm and pulled her into a kiss, just as Sakura walked in the door.

The pink-haired kunoichi stood in shock before running away. Ino saw this through the corner of her eye and she did the one thing she never imagined herself doing. She slapped Uchiha Sasuke, her crush and the boy she and Sakura fought over.

"You cold-hearted _jerk!_" The blonde ran out the door after her friend. "Sakura! Please wait!"

Sasuke stood in the flower shop, face still turned slightly and a growing red mark on his cheek.

* * *

Ryuu sat with Sakura until she stopped crying. Sasuke had gone too far this time, at least Itachi had the brains to _not_ harm anyone he cared about.

By the time she had fallen asleep, it was dark out. _**Perfect for the hunt, ne, Gaki?**_ Ryuu smirked, showing a fang.

"Agreed."

* * *

Sasuke ran through the Uchiha District, trying to get out of the storm that seemed to have come out of no where. He rushed into his house panting and soaked. _What is with this storm?_ He looked out the window at the lightning and rain before turning away and walking farther into the house, just as glowing blue eyes appeared.

The younger Uchiha took a shower, thinking about what he had done that day. Trained with Naruto and Kakashi, talked with Ino… hurt Sakura… He was hurt and confused. Hurt that Sakura would spend more time with some other guy after all the years she spent chasing after him, and confused about why he cared at all.

Sighing, he turned off the water and dried off, throwing on a pair of shorts and heading to his room.

"You know…" Sasuke whirled around, trying to find where the voice was coming form. "I wouldn't mind that you kissed Ino, in fact I couldn't have cared less, if it wasn't to hurt Sakura."

A flash of lightning illuminated the form of a shinobi leaning against the window frame, ice eyes blazing coldly. Sasuke took a step back in shock and in fear at the fury in those eyes. "How did you get in here?"

"I _was_ an Uchiha, remember?" Ryuu pushed away from the window slowly and approached him, stopping only a few feet away from the glaring Sharingan-user. "Lets get one thing straight: you support, or leave my student alone, I leave you alone; you _harm_ my student, in _any_ way, _I rip you apart."_

Sasuke took a stop back at the intensity in his voice and scowled. _Why do I care? _He shouldn't care about Sakura; he shouldn't care about anyone, except Naruto because he was Itachi's target.

Ryuu watched him with hard eyes. "You aren't as special as you think." The jinchuuriki turned to look back out at the still raging storm. "Orochimaru had already found a replacement for you by the time I finished him off." Sasuke's eyes widened. "Yeah, Hebi-teme is dead; completely obliterated."

"Tell me, were you able to defeat even Kabuto?" Sasuke's silence was all the answer he needed and Ryuu smirked. "Sakura did. She killed Kabuto, I killed Oto's first unit and Hebi-teme, and Itachi wiped out everyone else."

Ryuu turned back to him. "I'm only going to warn you once more: you harm Sakura, I put you through a torture worse than whatever Itachi's Tsukiyomi put you through."

Sasuke blinked and Ryuu was gone. He fell to his knees and brought a shaky hand to his face._ Note-to-self: _Never_ anger a dragon unless you're about to die anyway._

_

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_

AN: I apologize profusely for the long wait in updating, and it will probably just as long before I update again; school is a bitch. Anyway, I hope you liked it! Please leave me and Aniki a review!


	11. Chapter 11

Falling in Love with a Dragon

Disclaimer: Neither of us own Naruto, but Aniki does own Ryuu.

* * *

"Temari-chan!" Naruto suddenly zipped off down the street, leaving his team and Ryuu to blink in confusion until they saw another blonde with her hair up in four pigtails turn around to hug him. 

Ryuu chuckled and proceeded walking. "Looks like the Kazekage has come for a visit." Sakura jogged to catch up to him, pointedly ignoring the dark-haired boy beside her. Ryuu smiled reassuringly at her before blinking and veering off course. "Ky," was the only explanation that he gave the questioning glances. Sakura smiled and followed him.

"You always seem to know when she's upset." He grinned then waved to the Suna Siblings before jumping onto a building and heading to the Hokage Tower with Sakura close behind him.

Sasuke watched them leave a little sadly. It had been a week since Ryuu had threatened him, but he had yet to apologize to her. Ino had been avoiding him like a plague as well. Kakashi laid a hand on his student's shoulder and smiled slightly. "He isn't as bad as you want to believe."

Sasuke looked away and want to greet the Suna nin. Maybe he should give Ryuu the chance to help, but he wasn't even sure that he would take it.

* * *

"Hey Ky!" Ryuu picked up his adoptive daughter and spun her around in the air, eliciting a babyish giggle from the girl. "How is my baby girl doing?" 

Tsunade shook her head in amusement from her place at her desk. "You confuse me Ryuu. You know she can't answer you, so why do you always ask her questions?"

Ryuu rolled his eyes and focused on Ky's blood red orbs. "Your Sharingan is developing faster than I expected…"_ Faster than Lyn's… Orochi-teme must have done something..._

Sakura walked into the room with Ky's milk bottle and took her from her sensei to begin feeding her. The dragon jinchuuriki watched them with a smile. _She'll be a good mother some day…_

_**Yeah, to **_**our**_** children.**_ Ryuu turned away to hide his blush and mentally pounded Shinn in the head. _**You have to admit, Gaki, it's not an unwelcome thought.**_

"Sensei? Are you alright?" Ryuu blinked to see Sakura right in front of his face. "You're all red; do you have a fever?"

"Gah!" Ryuu fell backward in surprise and hit his head against the wall. "Ow… you'd think a shinobi wouldn't do that…" He heard Shinn chuckle as he rubbed the growing bump on his head.

He looked up to see Sakura laughing and smiled. _Then again, if it makes her laugh, I guess I can do this more often._

"It seems the rumors of you having a daughter are true, then, Ryuu." The deadpan voice made Ryuu grin and turn to face the Kazekage.

"Yeah, who would have thought, ne?" Gaara let a small smile creep onto his face and nodded. Ryuu took Ky from his student and walked over to the tanuki jinchuuriki. "Gaara, this is Kylira; Ky, this is the Godaime Kazekage, Sabaku-no-Gaara."

Kylira made a baby sound and reached her arms out to the redhead. Gaara controlled his sand to pick her up and cradle her. The girl squealed as the sand began to play with her. "Suna! Suna!"

Those gathered in the room stared in awe as the baby squealed again and sent bursts of wind at the sand, only to squeal again as it gathered back together. Ryuu smiled and took her back from his friend. The baby girl immediately began pulling at his bangs. _You really are so much like her: an affinity with wind, and an obsession with hair…_ As if sensing his thoughts, Ky laughed happily.

* * *

AN: Yes, another filler, and I'm extremely sorry about that and how long it took me to update, but I wanted to give a little insight on how Ryuu and Sakura's little 'family' is coming together, and I had to make Ryuu fall backward! Plus I had to get Gaara in there. The next chapter will have more to the story, though I'm warning you, it may not be for a... semi-long to _long_ time. --; Gomen.

School's been an itch, (though not nearly as bad as my boss), and I'm trying to keep up with all the other activities, such as choir, piano, fanfiction, and of course work so that I have the money to do this stuff.

Again, I apologize for the update coming so late and I hope that you all don't hate me too much, cause Aniki has been naggin' me for weeks to get this updated. XD Thank you all for reading and please review to tell me your thoughts.


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